Archive for April 2011
AG#53 – Kölsch Wit
Posted on: April 24, 2011
- In: Brewing
- 6 Comments
Kolsch Wit – Almost the malt bill of a Belgian Wit combined with Tettnang Hops and the Whitelabs Kölsch yeast. Should be very light, maybe cloudy, clean & Lager-esque.
Fermentables:
Lager Malt – 55%
Flaked Wheat- 30%
Flaked Rye – 10%
Munich Malt- 5%
Hops:
Tettnang – 4.2 % @ 60 mins – 50g (FWH)
Tettnang – 4.2 % @ 10 mins – 20g
Tettnang – 4.2 % @ 0 mins – 30g (20min Steep with the sting just knocked out of the boil with the IC)
Final Volume: 23 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.040
Final Gravity: 1.009
Alcohol Content: 4% ABV
Total Liquor: 32.9 Litres
Mash Liquor: 11.4 Litres
Mash Efficiency: 70 % (Reduced from my usual 80% due to having a lot of Flaked Adjuncts)
Bitterness: 26 EBU
Colour: 3 EBC
Whtelabs Kölsch yeast starter:
Scoop of Lager malt:
Flaked Wheat:
Flaked Rye:
Malt Temp:
The usual FWH and first batch spargings:
I cooled to 16c before running to FV and pitching the yeast:
A little above my target of 1040:
The refractometer read 10.5 Brix (OG: 1040)
I Mashed for 2h 15mins and got 72% Mash efficiency, I pitched the Kölsch yeast while running to the fermenter at 16c, I shall be doing my best to keep the temperature under control in the garage. It might be time for some wet towels!
*Bottled 4th May ’11 with 70g White Sugar, tasting good, yeast practically dropped bright in the FV.
*9th May: Yet another very early taster, Very very lager-esque, bottles clear as a bell & even the bit of yeast that got in the glass was clumping, hopefully the carbonation will build a little more over the next week.
If brewed again I’d be a little more liberal with the priming sugars.
- In: Brewing
- 2 Comments
Yesterday I took the short trip over to Elland Brewery, West Yorkshire to meet Gordon the head-brewer for a proper chat after our first brief initial meeting at work (Saltaire Brewery). Elland use the same original Thwaites brewery yeast as we do at Saltaire.
The Mash Tun & Fermenters:
Gordon’s enthusiasm and excitement for brewing beer is very obvious and I thoroughly enjoyed a good few hours of nattering with him, tasting a few from their retained samples, and looking round their 10 Barrel Brew House.
My personal favourite sample was his Brewers Reserve which he’d dry hopped with New Zealand Motueka hops (Though not available in the shops, this was just an experiment) yummy stuff.
Gordon tells me that the plant originally came from one of the Firkin Brew-Pubs, with its all wood cladding and copper-domed boil kettle. He has a lot more technical know-how than myself with his Chemistry background, and is really got a handle on the entire brewing process with accurate process measurement and documentation and good practice procedure.
Gordon and the guys from Elland are not doing too shabby with their recent SIBA awards for the 1872 Porter, getting the 2010 Winter Gold and the 2011 National Gold. You’ve gotta love a full complex dark beer!
Mash tun to the front with valentine, Copper boiler behind with Fermenters to the left:
The Man himself with his FV’s:
Hopefully Gordon is enjoying my Home brewed beers I left with him, you can catch up on his Tweets @GJMcKiernan
AG#52 – Half Wit
Posted on: April 3, 2011
- In: Brewing
- 2 Comments
Half Wit – A Belgian Style Wit beer.
Fermentables:
Lager Malt – 3000g – 51.5%
Flaked Wheat – 1500g – 25.8%
Flaked Spelt – 500g – 8.6%
Wheat Malt – 500g – 8.6%
Torrefied Wheat – 320g – 5.5%
Hops:
Golding – 4.2 % @ 60 mins – 10g
Saaz – 3.8 % @ 60 mins – 10g
Golding – 4.2 % @ 30 mins – 8g
Saaz – 3.8 % @ 30 mins – 8g
Saaz – 3.8 % @ 10 mins – 40g
Spices etc:
Crushed Coriander Seed – 12-15g – Last 5mins of boil
Grated Orange Zest – 3-4 Oranges – Last 5mins of boil
Final Volume: 23 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.052
Final Gravity: 1.012
Alcohol Content: 5.2% ABV
Total Liquor: 34.1 Litres
Mash Liquor: 14.6 Litres
Mash Efficiency: 70 % – I’m being cautious as I’ve got a large amount of un-malted adjuncts
Bitterness: 18 EBU
Colour: 3 EBC
Mash: 67c for 90mins
Boil: 60mins
Yeast: Safbrew T-58
Lots of un-malted wheaty adjuncts:
FWH & the most pale first runnings I have ever had 
:
Coriander seed well done in with a Pestle & Mortar:
Orange Zest:
Safbrew T-58 & stuff:
The money shot, near as damn it where it should be:
Smells very orangey!
I got some Tincture of Iodine from the local chemist (£1.10 vs Tincture_of_Iodine_30ml), after just less than an hour I have lots of Starch left. I gave the mash a good stir and decided to extend my mash period.
It has been a little bit scary knowing more than I knew before, the Iodine test… starch conversion complete after 1 hour 50 mins, quite reassuring and handy to know when mashing bigger beers.
Collected 28.5L at 12 brix making my Mash efficiency 77% so I was probably wise to be cautious with my Software setting of 70% and longer Mash until fully converted.
Wort tasting plenty Orangey! Hope that dies back a bit after fermentation.
I went with the Zest of 4 oranges and 15g Coriander.
*Three days Later*
Fermenting at 18c on the Garage Floor, yeast giving off loads of sulphurous aromas and flavours. Orange has died down thankfully. Hydrometer says about 1020.
I am really loving the paleness of this beer though, hope it keeps its cloudiness 🙂
*Bottled 21st Apr 2011 with 75g of priming sugar for a good bit of fizz.
*8th May ’11 – Bottles have dropped pretty clear! Still has sulphur but it goes down pretty well chilled from the fridge.
*10 May ’11 – Another taster later, chilled in the fridge for a few days. I like this but…
If I was to use this yeast again I would ignore advice to ferment cool, I’d let it go for it at a minimum of 20c and let it ferment the heck out of it, this should gas-off the sulphourous stuff with the C02. I think my cool 18c ferment has made it retain the odours, I’d also cut out any Sulphates in the liquor treatment sticking to Calcium Chloride which would have the added bonus of some perceived mouth-feel.
Oh, I will use this yeast again as I think I can get better out of it.
Probably Due To Network Congestion 